A Slice of LIfe

One thing I love about photography is the ability to capture a moment in life that will never again be exactly the same...I like this little "slice of life" captured here at this moment...a lot going on in this photograph...gotta love it.

Jakarta Photowalk 2009

Yesterday, I lead a group of about 60 people to Sunda Kelapa for our second annual Photowalk in Jakarta. We had three buses to drive us to the North part of the city. We took a group photo, and then all spread out walking amongst the Boogis Schooners...then took small row boats up the channel to see the boats from the water side, and then the boats dropped us all off at the fishing village where we walked around meeting the locals and taking photos of every day life in the village...we then walked to old Batavia and ate at the famous Batavia Cafe before taking the buses back to South Jakarta. Fun was had by ALL...can't wait to do another walk soon in another part of the city...

Skywatch Friday - Clouds Over The Pier

Happy Friday!!

Hope you all had a great week...gotta love Fridays!!

Be sure to check out skies from all around the world HERE...

I will be leading a photowalk in Jakarta early Saturday morning....looking forward to getting some good shots in an interesting part of Jakarta...

Waiting For The Morning Shift

Last Saturday, on the Photowalk scouting trip, I had my camera set to ISO 800 for the entire day. I do remember thinking, "why is there so much light in all my photos?" It wasn't until I got home, and downloaded all my photos, that I realized I was shooting at ISO 800. BUT, I like the grainy effect for this photo that shooting at the higher ISO causes...I might just shoot more often at 800...

Deep In Thought

These two guys, standing only a few feet apart...but miles away in thought.

Great Place For A Nap

Not selling any cables, chains or hooks?

Take a nap...

Not Open For Business

Here is another shot I got this past weekend from my "scouting trip" for the Photowalk next Saturday...I am always attracted to nice textures...old walls, scratched paint, etc...just makes for great pictures. I think this little "toko" (store) is usually open for business, but since Saturday was the first day of Ramadan, most stores were closed as people are fasting...

Jakarta Photo Walk Coming Soon

I will be leading a Photowalk in Jakarta next Saturday. A couple friends came with me yesterday to scout the area, and we got some great shots...really looking forward to another walk next week...the area is a photo mecca...

Skywatch Friday - Annapurna Base Camp

Happy Friday!!

This week's photo is from Nepal. I set up my tripod to take a self-photo of me and my buddies on arrival at the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal...From left to right are my friends Dave and Greg, and that is me on the right. I was very nervous sitting there...what is difficult to see in the photo is the 2000 foot drop straight down just to my left...

Be sure to check out all the other beautiful skies from around the world HERE...

Playing With Photo Painting

At Photoshop World last year, I took a class on photo painting using Corel Painter...I am not a painter, but the program is amazing and can really turn your photos into a piece of art. I need lots more practice, but it is something worth experimenting with...

Boys Being Boys...The Same All Over The World

When we entered a small village in the highlands of Papua, there were all these boys giggling and goofing off in front of the camera. When I turned towards them to take a photo, they all ran into a small grass hut. I took out my fisheye lens, and got right in their faces with my camera to catch them in this great pose. They couldn't stop laughing...

Sometimes I DO Take Photos of My Family...

My wife, Tika, sometimes gives me a hard time saying I am always taking photos of boring stuff for my blog, and never take photos of my own family. So here ya go...a recent photo of Tika and Kayla laughing it up on the gazebo...

If you want to see more photos of my family and keep up with the Graham's, you can also check out my family blog HERE...

It does not always have my best photography included, but it will keep you up to date on our every day life here in Jakarta...
(I am not quite as good about keeping that blog up to date either...but I am trying...)

Just a Couple of Cranes For the Job...

I am not sure how much it cost to rent a crane for a day, but I am sure it is a lot more than a lawn mower...this construction site has at least 20 cranes on it...it is tough to even count them all...

Skywatch Friday - Stormy Clouds Over Some Cool Rocks

Happy Friday!!

Be sure to check out all the great skies from around the world HERE...

The Hills That Look Like...I Don't Know What...

These hills are actually rocks...but they look like big soft pillows or something...
Some of the strangest rocks I had ever seen...

Stacking The Hay

You think you have a rough job? Try stacking hay at these altitudes in bare feet...

Contemplating Life

I sat and watched these three guys from a distance for some time. They were deep in conversation, sometimes laughing and sometimes shaking their heads...then they would stop talking and just stare...

Ya Gotta Wonder What He Is Thinking...

I have given myself a project...

I am going to go through my old travel photos and find some hidden gems that I overlooked before. I save ALL my photos, and there are always photos that I mark as bad photos initially, and then go back a few months later and realize that they are better photos than I originally thought...here is an example of a portrait I took of an older guy in Kathmandu...

International Finance Center At Night

So, I was hunting for a photo to post tonight, and asked my wife for her opinion. She does not like this photo because it is only glass...BUT, I like it...and it is my blog, so there!!

Skywatch Friday - More Rocks From Turkey

Happy Friday!!

Here is another shot from my trip to Turkey this summer...

Be sure to visit skies from all around the world HERE...

My House The Movie Set

You all have seen photos of my house before on this blog. Last year, we booked our house sometimes three times a week for the filming of a Soap Opera. The Soap filmed their last episode in May. They make a huge mess of the house moving furniture around, putting their own artwork on the walls, cables and lights everywhere, and trash all over the place. BUT, when they finish filming at around 1:00 in the morning, they have these magicians sweep through the house putting things back in its place and cleaning the mess. Well, we haven't had a film crew in the house since we were in Hong Kong Last month until last night. Here is a quick photo from the upstairs balcony of the chaos below...BTW, it is a 5-exposure HDR processed in Photomatix as well as CS4...

Many people ask me..." how do you sleep when they are filming?" Well, the rules are: No filming in our bedroom or Kayla's bedroom after 8:00pm, and they must be quiet after 8:00pm, and out of the house no later than 1:00 am...they are pretty good about sticking to the rules, but one night they filmed a fight scene until late at night...that was noisy, and I kept thinking we were getting robbed...

Hong Kong Walk-ways

One of the things that amazed me about Hong Kong (there were many) was that you can almost walk around the entire downtown of Hong Kong without stepping on a sidewalk on the ground. There are all of these walk-ways built above the ground going through and around buildings and malls...it really is amazing.

Fruit Bar

Looks like something you would see on the beach in the Caribbean...but this fruit stand was in Turkey of all places...

Fun With Polar Coordinates

If you are ever bored one day, take one of your photos, and mess around with the polar coordinates filter in Photoshop...you can get some really wild results. It works best when you have a somewhat symmetrical photo...and panoramic photos work well too...

Here is an example...below is after the polar coordinates filter was applied to the photo on the bottom....looks like a spaceship, heh?

Can you tell that I didn't have a decent photo to post today, so had to resort to this???

A Great Bike Ride

On one of the days we were in Yangshuo, China, we rented bikes and rode through the small villages outside of town. Even though we got rained on, it was a great day!!